The final step to adulthood.

Hubs and I are considering taking the final step to adulthood (at the grand old ages of 41 and 38) and buying a home.

Leavenworth is likely our last duty station. We had plans to retire to South Dakota, but I think that Hubs skill set might be more suited to life in the Leavenworth area (he's been a Raven, a patrol cop, a detective and Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge of 2 military jail facilities, and by the time he retires from the AF he'll have a graduate degree in criminal justice). Leavenworth has 3 prisons in the locality...enough said, I think.

We also qualify for a VA mortgage loan. I looked at the interest rates and payment calculators yesterday and even at the highest interest rate (if we do this, we're going with a fixed rate. None of this fluctuating crap) over 20 years (instead of 30) we'd be paying LESS per month than we could for a rented property.

With that in mind....anyone got any advice for us? We've never bought a home before.

Thanks!

On the move.

We have PCS (Permanent Change of Station) orders. We're going to Ft Leavenworth, Kansas. My husband will be the AF liason at the military prison, and we will be the minority Air Force family on an Army post.

We're also tired of living on base, so we're looking at either renting or possibly buying a home off-post once we get there. Lansing and Leavenworth are smaller cities with lower crime rates than our current location - they seem like decent places for us to finish raising our kids and this will probably be our last duty location before Hubs retires.

Speaking of kids, our eldest will not be coming with us. She'll be 18 before we leave and is in her last year of high school and is incredibly reluctant to leave. So, we're making arrangements for her to live with her friend and the friend's mom. It hurts that she's not going to be with us, but I was going to lose her to college next year anyway (that's what I'm telling myself, at least).

I had to withdraw from college; we're moving on Nov 1st which would have precluded my finishing the semester. I see no point in starting something I can't finish, so I withdrew, got a refund, and will try to enroll in classes at a college close to our new duty station.

Holy cow....there's a lot to do!

116

It's hot.

How hot, you ask?

Try 116. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN DEGREES FARENHEIT.

I have never been exposed to heat of this magnitude before. Ever.

I don't like it. I'd rather be cold. At least when it's cold, you can put more clothing on. When it's hot like this....well, there's only so much you can take off, ya dig?

It wouldn't be so bad were it not so damn humid. The air is incredibly heavy and just fat with moisture; it's like walking into a warm wet blanket every time you step outside.

Oh, how I long for the Great Plains of South Dakota. At least the air is dry there.